The chances of anything coming from Mars
by Dragons123d
Summary: (AU! Smart!Harry) The first Martian invasion happened in 1986 but failed because of Bacteria. However, one martian scientist found a baby and took him back to Mars, raising him as her own. He is the savior of Mars and the General of the Martian armies, he is Hadrian "Harry" James Potter. And they said nothing could come from that remote, forbidding planet known as Mars.
1. Chapter 1

**[Mars, October 30, 2001, Harry Potter POV]**

"My Lord, we are nearing the city."

"Tell the Elders that I am close but not to start the meeting until I get there." Harry ordered the Martian at the controls of the swift transport tripod (STT), given that the Elders had no respect for anyone but him, it was noticeable that they would wait for him to arrive before starting the meeting.

15 years earlier, Harry had been left in the remains of his relative's house and was found by one of the Martian scientist's, who was female, given that the only way to distinguish male from female was the voices. She took him on a transport back to Mars and she raised him as her own, his blood made many medical breakthroughs for the Martians, it allowed the female population to have the upper body of a human female but the legs were the tentacles, male Martians got stronger and had more deadly grips.

But, from what Harry had learned, the invasion of Earth had failed because of bacteria. He had saved the Martians on Mars because there was an outbreak of the same bacterial creatures when one of the surviving Martians from the invasion had returned and was contaminated.

At 13, Harry became the lead Weapons and Tripod expert, making tripods that had shields and looked more aquatic in nature. He named them Front Line Assaulter Tripods (FLAT) and also created the Goliath Raven Tripod (GRT), the purple head of this tripod had several horns and two heavy class heat rays, six tentacles and three legs that ended in red curved 'claws'.

Harry also made an AI class of tripods, calling the first of this class Hounders. The speedy devils could raise themselves to tower over a human and 'crouch' so they could attack and capture enemies quickly. Each Hounder was equipped with three organic tentacles, a light heat ray housed in its armored head and easy to deploy, the Hounders were the deadliest of the AI Tripod class.

His green orbs glowed in the darkness of the STT, watching as his transport drew closer to the emerald alien green city of the Martians, the city that the Elders convened at. He saw the cylinder launcher not too far off in the distance; ten GRT's and two FLAT's guarded it as several different classes of Handling Machines rebuilt the cannon.

 **(Elder Chambers)**

Harry stood silent in the Elder Chambers, the council were executing a radical Martian via telepathy, the cries of the dying martian went unheard as it's purple red blood spilled all over the metal floor.

"The age of disillusionment and decay is over; I have never before witnessed a mass telepathic execution before but the remnants of our society have displayed their displeasure with the senior elder and have terminated his appointment in the harshest manor. The gravity of our situation is extreme." The youngest of the Council Elder began, pointing one tentacle at the corpse of the 'Senior Elder' on the ground.

"Mars is barely able to maintain life, our continuous efforts to maintain the biosphere is exhausted to the extreme, the water tables and temperature decrease annually as does our population…" The next Martian elder spoke.

Harry spoke up at this point. "Elder, the water tables are no more a problem than is our food supply, but Mars will not be able to support us indefinitely if we keep degrading ourselves in this manor!"

The Third Elder spoke up "I agree with Hadrian, Mars will not survive if we continue our efforts in such a manor. But, I think it is time we restarted our plan for the conquest and occupation of Earth, our young sunward neighbor."

"The largescale hydrogen accelerator is beginning refitted and modified as we speak, three more of them will be built to send more troops in a matter of hours instead of days." The Fourth Elder added, a screen came to live, showing the hydrogen accelerator that Harry had seen as he entered the city.

"The only problem is of course the humans…" The Fifth Elder began, but he was interrupted by Harry.

"The humans at you speak off are not to be underestimated like the first invasion, we will need to hit somewhere else for the attack to begin."

"Where would the attack forces need to be if this was to be successful?" Elder number six asked curiously, his large insect like eyes staring at Harry.

"The attacking forces should start here," Harry used his own powerful telepathy to change the screen to a map of Scotland before continuing "The Highlands of Scotland, near this loch, will provide our forces significant cover and supplies to build the Fighting Machines needed for a large scale assault."

"But, our forces will need to have the landing zone secured." Harry explained as the Elders were listening intently. "If we use our transporter and strategically place a minimum of four FLAT's under the surface, they can secure the landing zone and start on our production of blood."

The Elders looked at one another before the First said "Hadrian, you will be the forerunner of our second invasion. You will command our forces in this conquest and under your leadership, Earth will belong to us."

"Thank you Elders, I'll prepare my personal FLAT for transport." Harry then raised his fist at a slant and cried " _ULLA!_ "

" _UUUUULLLLLLLAAAAA!_ " The Council returned the call.

 **[Earth, Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office, September 1, 2001, Albus Dumbledore's POV]**

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore watched the night sky, noticing that Mars was very noticeable in the night sky. His hands lay in his lap; once in a while he would grab a lemon drop from its candy bowl on his desk. The old wizard had seen this odd phenomenon 15 years previously; Mars had been as close to Earth as it had been now, when the invasion happened.

The year was 1986 and Britain was under attack from an alien force that had come from Mars, Men, women and children had been killed in the onslaught, only for the attackers to die from bacteria, invisible, minuet bacteria.

Of course, the invaders had destroyed Surry and the house that Harry Potter had lived in; Number Four had been crushed by what the muggle had called a 'Fighting Machine'. By the time he had arrived, Harry's magic signature was gone, meaning he was either dead or taken and hidden by some very powerful magic.

Now, 15 years later, Dumbledore was still wandering where Harry was. Last year, when the TriWizard Tournament had been restarted, Harry's name had reappeared but by some twist of fate, Harry's contract to the goblet was non-binding, this made Harry's younger brother, Marcus, shocked that he had a brother in the first place.

Harry's parents, Lily and James, had both been notified at once and Albus, against his will, had to tell them about sending the boy to Lily's relatives. It had seemed like a good plan back then; keep him away from the fame and glory that would have turned Harry into a pompous and arrogant brat. That was until the invasion and now the Potters were not listening to him anymore.

Getting up from his chair, Albus made his way towards his bedroom. He never noticed the massive green flash that had appeared on the red planet's surface for only a moment before disappearing. If he had then he would have seen the start of a new invasion, the invasion lead by the Boy-Who-Lived.

 **[Hogwarts, September 2, 2001, Marcus's POV]**

Marcus Perseus Potter, son of Lily and James and younger brother of Harry James Potter, entered the Great Hall, his mind filled with images of his older brother talking to squid creature and a green light that made his skin erupt in goosebumps. Being the brother of the supposedly late Boy-Who-Lived was hard but now these images were filling his dreams at night.

"Marcus, hey, mate!"

Marcus looked up and saw his friends, Ginny Weasley and Kris Wayne waving him over. Making his way over to them, Marcus sat down and started getting his breakfast on his plate.

Kris gave Marcus a worried look "Hey, Marcus? Are you alright, you look pale and somewhat sick…"

"I'm fine, just didn't get enough sleep because of my dreams last night." Marcus replied, waving his friends' concern off.

Then Ginny spoke up, looking at the see through roof of the school. "Why are there clouds in the sky? It's not going to rain is it?"

Looking up, Marcus also noticed the clouds. They were moving quickly over to the forbidden forest, growing darker as they moved.

"I don't know, let's go check it out." Kris said before getting up and making his way out of the Great Hall, Marcus and Ginny on his heels.

 **[Outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, Hogwarts, No POV]**

Students and Teachers alike watched as the strange formation that the clouds were making get darker, making a spinning cylindrical hole in the center of the formation. There were no winds that could be doing this, then the robes of onlookers started flapping in a sudden burst of winds, all of them were being pulled towards the odd cloud formation.

Then is stopped, it was silent.

Lightning struck a good ten to fifteen feet from where the onlookers were watching, right smack dab in the forbidden forest. Students cried out, several covered their ears for the earsplitting thunder.

The thunder never came.

The Lightning struck the same spot again and again and after the twentieth bolt of plasma connected with the earth, it stopped. Nothing moved, not a sound was heard. A teacher, two head girls and two seventh year boys made their way to the spot where the lightning had struck.

One of the seventh years touched the ground at the center of the strike zone and pulled his hand away in shock. The ground was cold, as though it was frozen!

Suddenly, the ground heaved violently, cracks formed and trees started falling. The group escaped and made it back to the safety of the school grounds. The miniature earthquake stopped and the onlookers waited for something to happen.

A metal object rose from the earth, moving over the trees and came down; three finger-like projections formed and made a 'foot'. Then a second metal 'leg' appear and the finger-like projections landed on the ground, the crowd was startled and moved back as something in the ground started lifting itself up.

Towering over the forest, even taller than the highest tower on the ancient school, the machine looked at the crowd of people below. Then a horn blared from it, startling most of the crowd before the sound ended with the three legged oddity expelling black smoke from the sides of its head.

 **[Hogwarts, Harry's POV]**

Harry sat in the commander's chair, watching the screen scan and shows the results. His personal creation, Harry activated his FLAT's weapon systems. The heat ray control sticks floated before him, magnetically powered so that he could move each heat ray like he would his arms. He smirked before pressing down on the red button.

The heat ray's activated, turning human flesh into dust and leaving the clothing behind. Moving his heat ray beams through the crowd, he mentally commanded his Tripod to start moving. The machine moved, moving its first leg forward and then continued to walk, the heat rays cutting down students and adults alike.

The shields flared as energy hit it, beams of red and orange doing nothing to his vehicle as he activated the beacon to tell the rest of the FLAT's to begin transporting and securing the location for the first cylinder.

"I'll handle the brunt of the attack; start capturing the survivors." Harry ordered as the next FLAT to activate rose up from the earth.

"Complying" Was the reply; the FLAT quickly maneuvered itself so that it could capture the humans with ease.

This was only the beginning, the world will belong to the Martians, Harry vowed to himself as he destroyed a tower with his heat ray, the stone braking and falling as it tumbled the earth.

 **[Hogwarts, Marcus POV]**

After watching Professor Burbage turn into dust, Marcus grabbed Kris's and Ginny's shoulders as he ran back inside Hogwarts. The screams echoed as the three ran, the sound of the beam growing louder and louder.

"We need to floo my parents!" Marcus gasped, skidding to a stop. Kris and Ginny only wheezed and gasped from running.

" _ULLA!_ "

The three friends froze, that cry didn't sound too far away. Marcus then started running as fast as he could to Gryffindor tower, he had some floo powder in his suitcase. Whatever was following them was still on their tail so Marcus had to get to the tower as fast as he could.

They made it in less than ten minutes, Marcus shout the password and jumped through the portrait hole, followed by Ginny and Kris. The painting of the Fat Lady swung close and Marcus heard a muffled thud before the alien sound came again.

" _ULLA!_ "

Rushing up to the boy's dorm, Marcus opened and searched through his suitcase, tossing cloths and robe aside until he found the sealed container that had all of the floo powder in it.

Rushing back to the common room, he opened the container and threw a pinch of the grey powder into the fireplace, shouting "Potter Manor!"

"Mum! Dad! I need to get through, please!" Marcus shouted as he heard the sound of humming and the smell of burning paint.

"Marcus, you can get through you know!" James said before he heard the sound as well. "What is-"

The portrait of the Fat Lady now had a 2/3rds of it burned off, showing the metal head of the thing that was trying to get to Marcus, Ginny and Kris.

"Now, jump through NOW!" James roared, Ginny was first, diving headlong into the emerald fire and vanished.

Kris followed; Marcus had his wand out and aimed at the metal creature. The thing finally tore the painting away and speed towards him when he bellowed "REDUCTO!"

The thing flew into the wall as the red spell connected, making an unearthly squawk as it crashed. Marcus quickly turned and jumped through the emerald green flames, landing on the other side as his father put out the flames, cutting the connection.

 **[Hogwarts, Harry's POV]**

With the location secure, Harry got out of his 'Fighting Machine' and headed towards the make shift prison. Squads of Hounders were rounding up anyone that had run back into the castle, about 35% were blasted into oblivion and the rest would either be turned into food or be sent back to Mars for…other investments.

Dressed in a battle worn combat vest and heat resistant pants, dark grey boots and martian leather gloves, he made well known Earth Generals, like General Douglas McArthur look like a normal civilian. A heat-pistol was at his hip if he was on the ground and got into some trouble.

Upon reaching the prison, Harry noticed that two of the metal devils were dragging a teenager towards him, having just caught her. Raising his eyebrow, Harry stopped them and studied the girl. She had bushy brown hair, brown eyes and was struggling her hardest to get free.

"What is your name?" He asked, making the young woman look at him in surprise. "Well? What is your name?!"

"Hermione G-g-granger" Hermione stuttered, her eyes showed fear, good that was the point.

"Hmm, take her to my personal machine and remove anything that could be used as a weapon, including sticks." Harry ordered the Hounders; they nodded and headed to his FLAT.

Watching them leave, Harry turned and headed towards the castle. The Hounders had shown him images of a stone creature guarding something and their heat rays couldn't destroy it. He headed to that very same spot; it wasn't far from the entrance. He stood in front of the statue, looking at it before placing his hand on its head. Using his powers, Harry felt the connection and crush it and the statue, the wall crumbling as whatever held it together was destroyed.

Walking up the golden stairs, Harry found himself at a door before opening it. Inside was an office that had objects whirling, puffing and doing all sorts of things. Harry stopped when he heard "Welcome back to Earth, Harry."

Looking around, Harry saw an old man with a beard that reached in belt. His sense of fashion was hideous, how could someone wear that as if it was an ordinary thing?!

"Have we met before?" Harry asked, his hand slowly reaching for his heat pistol. This old man was too creepy for his liking.

"Years ago, we did, but now I see that many changes have occurred. But, this must happen for the 'Greater Good', forgive me." The old man raised a piece of wood and started to say "Obliv-"

The old man dropped to the floor, dead. Harry's heat pistol was in his hand and aimed at where the old fool's head used to be. He had been told that his reaction speed was mindboggling to the extreme; he outdrew the fastest of the armed STT's, whose heat ray took 0.000001 of a second to aim and fire.

"I think not, old man. You have lived long enough and trying to stop me and my people will be useless in the end." Harry said as he holstered his heat pistol and picked up the stick, barely noticing the power that surged through him as he heard the song of a bird.

The bird looked like it was on fire, but that was just the feathers. The song was heartwarming but somehow, hurtful. The bird looked at him as though it expected him to run from the office screaming.

"Nice song, fire bird, but I'm not going to run from my people that need me." Harry said before turning and walking out of the office, stopping when the bird landed on his shoulder and nuzzles his hair.

He only smiled before continuing to walk out of the castle; he had a world to conquer.

 **Martian Machines:**

FLAT- Tripod from the War of the Worlds 2005 film by Steven Spielberg

GRT- 2nd Martian Tripod from the War of the Worlds: Goliath film

STT- Tripod from the Martian intro in Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds 1998 Pc Game

Hounder- small Tripod from The Great Martian War film

Any other Martian machines belong to their respective owners and creators. I only own the plot of this story and nothing else.


	2. Chapter 2

**[Potter Manor, September 3, 2001, Marcus POV]**

It had happened so fast, Marcus could only remember running and that alien cry of " _ULLA!_ "

The Daily Prophet's front page read; **HOGWARTS DESTROYED!** And that only added to the sense of dread that was building up. The Ministry, as the article said, was sending a team of the very best to deal with the threat, Marcus could only shake his head at that. These invaders knew what they were doing from the very start; nothing could stop the new threat.

If anyone told him that his world would be struck down yesterday, he would have laughed in there face. Now, all Marcus could do is watch out his window. A shooting star speed across the sky, landing behind some hills, then there was a green flash, Marcus blinked. Green flash?

 **[Hogwarts, Harry POV]**

"I want those MK II Martian Fighters in the air by tomorrow; I just received word that the second cylinder has landed two miles from the place called Godric's Hollow, without any support to secure it!" Harry ordered the head Martian constructor's hologram before the Martian nodded and the transmission cut out.

Sitting in his FLAT's cockpit, Harry sighed as he collapsed into his chair, sometimes it paid to have 'on top of the ball' workers. Opening one of the many holo screens, he got a strike team of two FLAT's including himself, eight GRT's and roughly thirty Hounders to attack London. Telepathically activating his tripod, Harry started moving his machine in the direction of the human city, the rest of the strike force catching up.

"What's going on?!" Turning his head, Harry gave his guest/prisoner a thoughtful look.

The girl, Hermione Granger if he remembered correctly, had a look of pure horror, given the fact she had just woken up, it made sense. Her hair was frazzled, brown eyes were slightly glazed over from just waking up and she still wore the same clothing as yesterday as well.

"Glade you could wake up, Hermione Granger." Harry said, turning back to the viewing screen that showed green hills and a bridge with train tracks on them. "You woke up to watch as London is brought to its knees."

The teenager gasped in shock, he ignored her because of a holo message had appeared. Reading it quickly, Harry sent back a reply, if they needed more copper and zinc then they should have started the production of Handling Machines to build up the necessary factory's to get the materials. Only an hour until the strike team reached London, he wouldn't be bored if his present company wasn't a bother.

 **[London]**

The Potters were walking out of Diagon Alley when the strike team attacked, the heat ray sliced through a building and crashed to the earth.

"No! Look there they are! What did we tell you?" Marcus shouted as the tripod that had attacked and destroyed Hogwarts stood tall and fired its' weapons upon London.

" _UULLLAAA!"_

" _UUULLLAAA!"_

Harry fired his heat rays, not even noticing the hyperventilating screams of his passenger. His instincts drove him, the FLAT's metal head turned and blasted a bar into oblivion, his tripod's tentacles slithered out and started capturing people as he moved over the destroyed bar. Whatever the bar had been hiding was now revealed, an alley full of people that screamed and ran like ants.

Marcus ran, his mother and father right behind him as London was destroyed around them. The muggles were fighting back; the roar of several jet fighters was heard as they engaged the tripods. The massive tripods were unharmed as shields stopped the missiles from even hitting them and the smaller purple headed tripods took no damage at all before blasting the jet fighters out of the air.

Then Marcus heard his mother scream then his dad yell "LILY!"

Turning, Marcus saw that the largest of the tripods had his mum in one tentacle, his dad was trying to release her with magic but it was in vain. Then another tentacle grabbed his dad before one reached for him. He ran, the tentacle was fast but not agile enough to grab him, but he was stopped when a building crashed in front of his escape path, he was caught.

The explosion made the massive tripod stumble, through the destroyed city, Marcus saw the HMS IronClad, its guns pointed at the tripod. The tripod released its war cry and raised itself to face this opponent. Marcus ran down another street and away from London, by some work of fate, he had been saved.

Harry snarled and spun his machine about before hissing. The battleship was named the HMS IronClad, a tribute to the ThunderChild! The shields had held against the barrage of bullets but only just held. The two other FLAT's joined him, their heat rays prepped and aimed at the human battleship. Harry fired his heat rays, but was shocked to see that the hull of the IronClad held under the assault. The guns on the ship fired, turning one of the FLAT's cockpits into slag, the shields failed against the concentrated fire of the ship.

Harry pushed his tripod to move as fast as it could, he entered the bay and blasting the IronClad point blank. The result was instantaneous; the IronClad's deck melted threw. Multiple tentacles grabbed the HMS IronClad and started pulling it apart; the sound of screaming metal was so loud, that it hurt his ears. The ship finally gave way and Harry's tripod dropped the battleship into the bay, watching as it sank for good.

He uttered " _UUUUULLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAA!"_

Returning his attention to the burning city, Harry started blasting London to ruin; the strike against London was nearly complete.

 **[Ruins of London, several hours later, Hermione POV]**

Hermione could only stare out the viewing screen; it showed the burning ruins of London, destroyed in just a few short hours. The horror of what had transpired was etched in her mind; she wrenched her eyes from the scene, looking at Mr. and Mrs. Potter. The look of anger on Mr. Potter's face was scaring her slightly but it stopped when the tripod shook and the sound of the machines legs moving meant that the metal monster was leaving.

'Why? Why did you do this, your worse than Voldemort!" James snarled, Hermione shuddered at the mention of the dark lord.

"I did it because London, to us, is the mark of our failed invasion fifteen years ago, with it gone; it means that conquering Earth is not impossible." Hermione could only turn her head to see her captor, he only looked about to be fifteen, himself.

"How?" She asked, wanting an answer.

He turned, his burning eyes bore into hers.

Flashback

" _ULLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAA!"_

 _Harry, age 4, watched the screen as he saw the footage of the Martians dying from bacteria in horror._

" _ULLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"_

 _The fighting machines stopped and the cry of death was heard clearly everywhere in his house. Harry's mother pulled him to her human chest protectively as they watched the video._

" _UUUUUUUUUULLLLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~~~!"_

 _The sound ceased, the horror that Harry watched made him feel sick, why did this happen on earth and not here?_

 _Black birds hungrily pecked and tore at the dead or still dying Martians, Harry couldn't watch anymore and he hid his face in his mother's chest, tears streamed down his face._

" _Turn it off! I can't watch it anymore! Please, no more, mom, turn it off!" He sobbed._

End of Flashback

"I watched them suffer and I promised that it would never happen again." He said, turning to face the Potters and gave them a dark glare.

"You were raised on Mars?!" Hermione asked in shock, how could he have survived on the red planet? Surely not by living with the Martians!

"Yes, I am Hadrian James Potter, son of Dr. Danios. And you three are my prisoners, for now."

 **[September 6, 2001, Marcus POV]**

Three days after London, Marcus wandered with the homeless and muggles, all that was of value to him was at the Burrow. But, by the time he had reached the Weasley's odd home called a house, Ginny and her family were gone.

 _The summer sun is fading as the year grows old,  
and darker days are drawing near,  
the winter winds will be much colder,  
now you're not here._

 _I watch the birds fly south across the autumn sky  
and one by one they disappear,  
I wish that I was flying with them  
Now you're not here.  
Like the sun through the trees you came to love me,  
like a leaf on a breeze you blew away..._

 _Through autumn's golden gown we used to kick our way,  
You always loved this time of year  
Those fallen leaves lie undisturbed now  
'Cause you're not here  
'Cause you're not here  
'Cause you're not here _

Fire suddenly leapt from house to house. The population panicked and ran, and Marcus was swept along with them, aimless and lost without his family. Finally, he headed eastward for the ocean and his only hope of survival: a boat out of England.

 _Like the sun through the trees you came to love me,  
like a leaf on the breeze you blew away..._

 _A gentle rain falls softly on my weary eyes  
As if to hide a lonely tear  
my life will be forever autumn,  
'Cause you're not here  
'Cause you're not here  
'Cause you're not here_

As Marcus hastened through Covent Garden, Blackfriars and Billingsgate, more and more people joined the painful exodus. Sad, weary women, their children stumbling in the street with tears,  
Their men bitter and angry, the rich rubbing shoulders with beggars and outcasts. Dogs snarled and whined; the horse's bits were covered with foam, and here and there were wounded soldiers, as helpless as the rest. They saw tripods wading up the Thames, cutting through bridges as though they were paper; Waterloo Bridge, Westminster Bridge, one appeared above Big Ben!

"UUUUUUUUUUULLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Never before in the history of the world, had such a mass of human beings moved and suffered together. This was no disciplined march, it was a stampede, without order and without a goal, and six million people unarmed and unprovisioned driving headlong.

It was the beginning of the rout of civilization, of the massacre of mankind!

A vast crowd buffeted him towards the already packed steamer. Marcus looked up enviously at those safely on board... straight into the eyes of Ginny who was half way up the gangplank.  
At sight of him, she began to fight her way along the packed gangplank and freed herself from the crowd and crashed into his arms. Her parents tried to follow but at that very moment, it was raised and they caught a last glimpse of their despairing faces as the crowd swept them away from the Weasley's.

 _Like the sun through the trees you came to love me,_  
 _Like a leaf on a breeze you blew away..._  
 _Through autumn's golden gown we used to kick our way_  
 _You always loved this time of year_  
 _Those fallen leaves lie undisturbed now_  
 _'Cause you're not here_  
 _'Cause you're not here_  
 _'Cause you're not here_

The steamer began to move slowly away, but on the land ward horizon appeared the unmistakable silhouette of a fighting machine. Another came, and another. Striving over hills and trees, plunging far out to sea and blocking the exit of the steamer, between them lay the silent grey battleship, HMS Thunder Child II. Slowly it moved towards shore, then with a deafening roar and whoosh of spray, it swung about and drove at full speed, towards the waiting Martians.

 _There were ships of shapes and sizes  
Scattered out along the bay  
And I thought I heard her calling  
As the steamer pulled away  
The invaders must have seen them  
As across the coast they filed  
Standing firm between them  
There lay Thunder Child!_

The Martians released their deafening battle cry; their outrage was heard as their long sunken enemy had returned to wage battle once more!

 _Moving swiftly through the waters_  
 _Cannons blazing as she came_  
 _Brought a mighty metal war lord_  
 _Crashing down in sheets of flame_  
 _Sensing victory was nearing_  
 _Thinking fortune must have smiled_  
 _People started cheering,_  
 _"Come on Thunder Child!"_  
 _"Come on Thunder Child!"_

The ThunderChild blasted two of the Martian fighting machines apart in a multitude of cannon blasts, cutting the Martian numbers to one machine, but the ship sped on, cutting down the last of the tripod figures. The crowd cheered but stopped when the tripod from London appeared and placed itself between the shore and the HMS ThunderChild II. Instantly, it raised its Heat Rays, and melted the Thunder Child's valiant heart.

 _Lashing ropes and smashing timbers  
Flashing Heat Rays pierced the deck  
Dashing hopes for our deliverance  
As we watched the sinking wreck  
With the smoke of battle clearing  
Over graves in waves defiled  
Slowly disappearing  
Farewell Thunder Child!  
Slowly disappearing  
Farewell Thunder Child!  
Farewell Thunder Child!  
Farewell Thunder Child!_

When the smoke cleared, the little steamer had reached the misty horizon, and Ginny's parents were safe. But the Thunder Child had vanished forever, taking with her England's last hope of victory. The leaden sky was lit by green flashes, cylinder following cylinder, and no one and nothing was left now to fight them. The Earth would belong to the Martians!

" _UUUUUUUUUULLLLLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!_ "

 **Lyrics and words used from Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds belong to him; I only used them for this story.**


	3. Chapter 3

Harry looked around, his eyes catching sight of the ruined buildings and smoke. He started walking down the road, where was everyone? There were a dozen dead bodies in the road, their bodies softened by the black smoke dust. All was still, houses locked and empty, shops closed but looters had helped themselves to wine and food, and outside a jeweler's, Harry noticed some gold chains and a watch were scattered on the pavement.

"UUULLLAAA!"

Harry stopped, staring toward to sound. His heart stopped, no, this couldn't be happening again! It seemed as if that mighty desert of house had found a voice for its fear and solitude. This was London, the invasion had failed and he was a martyr of his people.

"Ulla!"

The desolating cry worked upon Harry's mind. The wailing of the Martian took possession of him. He was intensely weary, footsore, hungry and thirsty at that moment. Why was he wandering alone in this city of the dead? Why was he alive, when all of his people were dying in this human city as it lay in state in its black shroud? Harry felt intolerably lonely, drifting from street to empty street, drawn inexorably towards that cry.

"Ulla!"

Harry saw over the trees on the hill, the fighting machine from which the howling came. He crossed Regents Canal. There stood a second machine, upright, but as still as the first. His world and hope vanished as he moved towards the fighting machine.

"Ulla! Ul-!"

Abruptly, the sound ceased. Suddenly, the desolation, the solitude, became unendurable. While that voice sounded, Harry felt that his people had still seemed alive. Now, suddenly, there was a change, the passing of something, He knew not what. All that remained was this gaunt quite.

He looked up and saw a third machine. It was erect and motionless, like the others. His heart froze; he had to see if anyone survived. Harry marched towards the fighting machine and saw a multitude of black birds was circling and clustering about the hood. Running along the road, Harry felt fear, no one had survived, as he ran up the hill towards the motionless metal machine. Out of the hood hung red shreds, at which the hungry birds now pecked and tore.

Harry fell to his knees and screamed:

"UUUUUUUUUUUUUULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

 **(Bedroom, September 7, 2001, Harry POV)**

He woke up in a cold sweat, panting and heart racing. It had seemed so real and yet it was his nightmare. A nightmare where he had failed and nothing was left of the Martian people, only he remained as a last testament of the great empire.

' _It was only a dream, that's it, nothing more…'_ He thought to himself as he got up and headed to the wash room to get ready for the day.

He washed quickly, dressed in his combat gear before heading to the control center of the Martian encampment. Martians moved quickly to and fro, carrying things or moving prisoners to another destination. Hadrian ignored it all, his feet pounding that path to the center of the base of operations. Upon entering the building, he was met by two Hounders at the doors and they let him pass after a quick scan.

"Report" He said crispy to a female Martian, his eyes on the holographic image of the globe.

"London and the surrounding areas have fallen under our control" She said in a sweet but firm tone, motioning at the green portion of the Earth. "But we are meeting heavy resistance from France, Spain and Germany. The troops have barely gotten any foot hold in those territories because of the FLAT's shielding and firepower."

Hadrian nodded before pointing at Africa "Status on the scouting party that was sent here"

"Nothing to report…yet" The Martian said before pausing.

"Yet?" He asked, something was up.

"Yes, they had to get passed the water blockade first but the last report from them was that they got through and would be at the site in a few hours…That was three days ago." She answered; clearly frightened that he would hurt her for saying this.

"Have a squadron of Martian fighters go with another scouting party as a distraction, which should keep the humans on their toes." He said, giving her a nod before returning back to the globe.

"Sir, anything else?" She asked, Hadrian straightened before answering her.

"Yes, alert battle legions 5 and 6 that they are to report to me in thirty minutes, we are taking France!"

"Yes Sir!" She said with a small smile before turning away to follow his orders.

Hadrian glanced at the hologram one more time before turning and leaving the command center, he had France to invade.

 **[Delacour Manor, September 21, 2001, Marcus POV]**

Marcus sat next to Ginny, holding a cup of water in his hands as they listened to the radio.

" _The Invaders are still barely holding onto their part of the dirt,"_ The reporter said, _"French soldiers are saying that France will not give in to this threat in any way."_

Marcus shook his head, Ginny looked slightly sick. They had seen firsthand at what this threat could do, death and destruction came from this threat from another world. It took the Delacour's to looking at their memories to convince them of the threat.

" _New reports are coming in…"_ The Reporter stopped talking and static was heard for several heartbeats _"The main line of our fellow countrymen has fallen! Swarms of tripods have broken the front lines and leading the assault is a massive Martian fighting machine that is larger than the others! Martian flying machines are blasting apart the back lines, France's defenses have broken down! People of France, I implore you to leave the country now while you still can!"_

Marcus panicked, France's defenses had fallen! The invaders were now on their way!

 **[Hadrian's POV]**

The French were getting to be a nuisance; Hadrian grimaced as he turned another line of the French troops into dust. How had they held on for so long? It didn't matter now as he would destroy France and claim it for the Martian Empire. He let his mind wander to a different idea before being jolted back to reality by an explosion on his right side, his shields making the blast useless but still powerful enough to shake the massive war machine.

Turning and blasting the offending human vehicle to shreds, Hadrian snorted in amusement. Humans, they will fight to the very end and still make their deaths as hilarious as possible.


End file.
